Sustainability: changing the debate in emerging markets

01 okt 2014

With momentum building towards the UN Climate Change Conference in Peru, new figures from IBR reveal that businesses leaders in emerging markets are more focused on the sustainability of their operations compared with peers in developed markets. In this short report Nathan Goode, global leader for energy & cleantech, calls for a change in the narrative around sustainability arguing that we need to start talking in language that resonates with businesses.

Report highlights:Businesses in emerging markets cite energy as more important to their growth strategy compared with counterparts in developed markets. More than three-quarters of African businesses cite the cost and supply of energy as crucial to their growth plans while relatively few North American and European businesses are looking to move to greener sources of energy.

Raw materials are also relatively more important to businesses in emerging markets. Around two-thirds of businesses in Africa, Latin America and southeast Asia cite cost as important to them (or their supply chains) over the next 12 months. Meanwhile businesses in Europe are the least focused on raw materials with fewer than half citing cost, availability or sustainability as important.